It is a natural phenomenon that arrives every July that is best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere. That means you Albany!

If you have been known to admire the cosmos in the night sky, you are really going to want to look up in the weeks ahead! According to NASA, the annual Perseid Meteor shower is happening now through August 24th. NASA says the shower peaks in mid-August and is "...considered the best meteor shower of the year. With very fast and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long 'wakes' of light and color behind them as they streak through Earth's atmosphere." These particular meteors are also known for their fireballs! Translation? You'll probably get to see some pretty spectacular sights in the Albany night sky.

So how are we blessed with these fireballs in the night sky? NASA says the meteors are "comet particles" and small pieces of asteroids that burn up as they pass through the earth's atmosphere at a speed of 37 miles per second! That's almost as fast as my kids tear through McNugget Happy Meal to get to the toy.

Now if you plan on doing some meteor viewing in the days and weeks ahead, put a pot of coffee on or stock up the mini-cooler with a few extra cold ones. NASA says while the Perseids can be seen as early as 10 pm, prime viewing time is in the pre-dawn hours. So whoever said nothing good happens after midnight was obviously wrong! NASA says so!

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

Gallery Credit: Keri Wiginton

LOOK: Here is the richest town in each state

Just saying the names of these towns immediately conjures up images of grand mansions, luxury cars, and ritzy restaurants. Read on to see which town in your home state took the title of the richest location and which place had the highest median income in the country. Who knows—your hometown might even be on this list.

Gallery Credit: Meagan Drillinger

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

Gallery Credit: KATELYN LEBOFF

 

 

 

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